Impediments Confronting a Translator in Translating
Many of translation problems are related to linguistics, the special characteristics of language. Language is part of culture, so in addition to the other
cultural factors, the special characteristics of the respective languages are also the factors might influence translation.
2. Social Culture
In complexities of organization and social control, a translator is very frequently confronted by many difficulties in interpretation and equivalence, at times
the problems of translation which involves social practices becomes very complex. Indeed, many translators, even those who recognize its interpretative or thematic
function, would deny that translators are critics.
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3. Religious Culture
The problems in religious culture in translating the Qur’an often happen. Articles of clothing provide examples of material features that differ from one culture
to another and may lead to translation difficulties as in words such as “Allah” God, “Jannah”
paradise, “Naar” hell-fire relay distinct messages to different non- Muslim TL readers whose faith provides different theological meanings to these same
words. Although there is no translational problem involved in rendering their surface denotative meanings into English, these words and their translations relay different
mental images and expectations to both the SL and TL readers; the word Allah, for instance, has a number of componential features idiosyncratic to Islam. It designates
above all the oneness of God, i.e. monotheism who has 99 attributes mentioned in
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Peter Newmark, About Translation, Clevadon: Multilingual Matter LTD, 1980, p. 170
the Qur’an, the lord with whom no one else can be associated, and the creator of every thing including the prophets.
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The Arabic word Allah is translated as God as Father, Son and holy Spirit reflect Christianity’s semantic componential features that fail to accommodate the
Qur’anic notion of absolute monotheism. Therefore, Allah can not be translated into God. Allah is the name of the essence of absolute; it was known and used long before
the arrival of Islam in Arab like Muhammad’s father name “Abdullah”. Allah in Arabic language has always used for one God, the Supreme Being, many views
rejecting derivation of word Allah. In translating the Qur’an translators have to face plenty of impediments and
obstacles. This is due to the uniqueness of Arabic language; which not inherent in order languages of the world. Abdul al-Majid Daryabadi, in his introduction to Tafsir
Qur’an gave a clear outline as to how the translators confront impediments and
obstacles while translating the Qur’an, particularly into English. A brief outline of discussion on this subject presented by him is given below:
1. There is a large number of Arabic verbs that cannot be translated into English
verbs, such as, bakhila, asrafa, abtala, taghaa, and amaata etc. one has to perforce to render each of these words not by a single word, but by
combination of words.
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Susan Basnnet Edwin Gentzler, Translation and Religion Holy Untranslatable, Clevadon: Multilungual Matters LTD, 2005, p. 166
2. This is no equivalent substitute to the Arabic mudaari aorist in English, or
for that matter, in any other language known to the translator. The Arabic mudaari
is both present and future tenses combined, whereas on other languages including English a tense is either present or future. Thus,
thousands of Arabic verbs are to be rendered into English as incompletely. 3.
In the English language, there are only two numbers singular and plural. There is no single word to convey the sense of Arabic dual Tathniah in
nouns as well as verbs, both in the second and the third persons. 4.
There is comparative dearth of asma’al-faa’il nominal agents in English language, whereas they are abound in Arabic, muflihun, mu’jizun, qahitun,
mustaqdimun, musyrikun, shakirun, and many similar words have to be
rendered as adjectives or participles, not as substantives. 5.
In Arabic language, the feminine plural in second and third persons is always distinguishable from the masculine. In English both genders are covered by
“you” and “they”. 6.
Repetition of synonyms, chiefly for the sake of emphasis, is of frequent occurrence in Arabic; in fact at times it is considerable literary merit and
beauty. In English language no is sanction for it. Many such expressions as: Inna nahnu nazzalna al-dzikra
literally means: Verily, We We We have revealed the admonition,
Inna nahnu fa nuhyi wa numiitu literally means:
verily, we We Quicken and cause death have to remain only partly
translated.
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